No doubt the MILW train was a-rockin' and a-rollin' on this decrepit right of way.
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That's a fantastic shot.
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Very nicely composed documentation of a bit of history.
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Holy telephone poles Batman. What an amazing shot. Sure miss the old telegraph poles and hunting for insulators.
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| Posted by on June 6, 2014 | |
Wow, any new PCE photos are absolutely awesome. Its like going back in time to see everything you wondered about the MR in the West.
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Steve, with 7 of 10 of the top photos being yours, you are now the rail photographer equivalent of The Beatles.
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Does any of this route still exist? I looked for it on Google Maps but couldn't find anything.
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| Posted by SES on February 6, 2023 | |
Well, Patrick Reiger, almost 10 years late in responding, but very little of the Milwaukee Road Western extension is left. There's a few miles of mainline that still exist just east of Butte used to serve industries. A segment of the mainline between St Maries, ID and Plummer is still used to bring finished lumber to a connection with UP at Plummer. The UP line from Plummer to Mica, WA was also Milwaukee. Another section of main between Warden, WA and Othello to Royal City exist that's Milwaukee. A portion from Renton, WA to Tacoma and the entire Morton and Chehalis Subs still exist. A very short section of the abandoned Logan, MT branch connects to MRL to serve an industry. Renton to Cedar Falls/North Bend, WA was abandoned by BN in 1992 when the Snoqualmie Mill started trucking everything. St Maries to Bovill still intact but out of service since 2009 when Clarkia Log Train discontinued. Seattle North Coast ran the isolated Port Townsend branch for a few years until abandonment. BN bought th Snoqualmie Pass section between Easton, WA and Cedar Falls in 1980 as well but pulled up the track in 1987. The grade there was much easier than BN's Stampede Pass route but BN abandoned the idea of using the alternate route as anticipated traffic there was never realized. Ironically, less than 10 years later, BNSF revived Stampede and could have stood to use the now abandoned easier grade of the Milwaukee.
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